


Rooftop Sorrows

by themortaltrash



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Drunk Alec, M/M, Post-breakup, h/c, parabrotai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-29 17:19:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13931685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themortaltrash/pseuds/themortaltrash
Summary: Jace watched as he took a long swig from the bottle then proceeded to chuck it as hard as he could into Central Park. “What’d you do that for? Now what am I gonna drink?” Jace joked. He closed the stairwell door and put a quick locking rune next to the handle — sober Alec wouldn’t want anyone to see him like this.Alec let out a short laugh, a bitter and broken sound. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ve got plenty more,” and held up an unopened bottle of gin.-Alec and Magnus break up, and Jace finds him on the roof, drowning his sorrows in wine and gin.





	Rooftop Sorrows

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this done for about a month now, but it always felt a bit incomplete. I don’t know what else to do with it so here you go lol
> 
> constructive criticism is always loved and appreciated

Jace found Alec on the roof around midnight. His legs dangled over the edge and he held a half-empty bottle of wine loosely in one hand.

“Hey, buddy,” Jace called from the stairwell doorway. “What’cha doin’?”

Alec raised one hand in greeting, but otherwise didn’t respond. Jace watched as he took a long swig from the bottle then proceeded to chuck it as hard as he could into Central Park. “What’d you do that for? Now what am I gonna drink?” Jace joked. He closed the stairwell door and put a quick locking rune next to the handle — sober Alec wouldn’t want anyone to see him like this.

Alec let out a short laugh, a bitter and broken sound. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ve got plenty more,” and held up an unopened bottle of gin. “I wish I brought tonic...and cups.”

Jace took a seat next to Alec and hooked their ankles — partially because he thought Alec could use the human contact, and partially because he wasn’t totally convinced Alec was sober enough to keep from tumbling off the edge (and while it wouldn’t kill him, it would put him out of commission for at least a couple of days, and Alec was extra annoying when he wasn’t allowed to work or go on missions).

He watched Alec twist off the top, debating whether or not he should intervene. His decision was quickly made when his parabatai took a long swig of the gin without wincing even slightly. Alec had never really drank before Magnus, and he thought even _beer_ was too strong. The fact that he could drink straight liquor like it was water told him that Alec had been up here for a long time before Jace had found him.

He yanked the bottle out of Alec’s hands and took a drink. “Sharing is caring,” he said with a smirk.

“So I’ve heard,” Alec deadpanned. He reached for the bottle in Jace’s hand, but it was pulled out of his reach.

“I think you’ve had enough for now, bud,” Jace said softly, suddenly serious, and set the bottle down on his other side.

Alec frowned, his eyebrows furrowed. “I’m still awake, so obviously I haven’t.”

“If you fall asleep up here, you’ll fall off.”

“So?”

Jace turned to face him fully, alarmed. “Alec, you don’t mean that.”

The lines on Alec’s face disappeared and he sighed heavily. “You’re right.”

They sat in silence for a long moment, unsure of what to say. Jace, feeling awkward, took another swig of gin and clicked his tongue a bit distastefully. “Since when do you drink gin, anyway?” Jace asked, genuinely curious.

“Since I went to Tokyo,” Alec answered glumly.

“ _Tokyo_? When did you go to Tokyo?”

Alec gave him an odd look. “When you were living with Magnus. You didn’t notice we were gone? It was for, like, a day and a half.”

Jace suddenly felt incredibly guilty. Alec was in his first relationship ever, and Jace had never even asked him about it — not really, anyway. He asked how Magnus was doing and if they had plans (and, if not, did he want to help Jace train?), but he never asked for _details_. Where were they going? Did he have a good time? How’s the sex?

Whenever Jace would go out with girls, he would come home the next morning and wax poetic to Alec about the whole night, sparing no details. Yet he’d never offered Alec the same courtesy.

Horror ran through his veins at the thought that maybe Alec didn’t talk to him about Magnus because he thought that Jace might be uncomfortable with it. Like he would think that Alec having a boyfriend was gross — that _Alec_ was gross. And that was unacceptable.

Just as Jace was about to open his mouth to ask Alec about said boyfriend, Alec whispered brokenly, “He doesn’t want to be with me anymore.”

Jace froze. Alec was facing away from him now, staring intently at grass below, his expression unreadable. “What?” He asked, stunned.

“We’re...fighting,” Alec said, his voice a touch louder but still unsteady. “He found out about the Sword. That I knew...and didn’t tell him.”

“You did what you thought was right,” Jace defended.

Alec didn’t seem to like that answer very much and kicked at the wall with his heel. “Yeah, and a lot of good it did me. Magnus doesn’t want to ever see me again.”

Jace thought Alec might be over-exaggerating a bit (as he was prone to do). They’d just seen Magnus a couple of hours ago when he’d come to help Max, and, from what he’d heard from Isabelle, he and Alec seemed fairly friendly. “Did he say that?”

“Basically. He said the only thing holding him back from protecting his people was me.” A single teardrop found its way down Alec’s left cheek and he wiped it away angrily. “And then he just left.”

Jace chewed at the inside of his cheek. While he understood where Magnus was coming from, he couldn’t help but feel a bit betrayed, too. Magnus had _promised_ him that he wouldn’t hurt Alec, yet here Jace was, holding his parabatai’s shattered heart in his hands — and he was the one that had to glue the pieces back together. Magnus was the one person outside of their family that had earned their trust, and he’d thrown it away because Alec made a mistake.

Jace wasn’t even convinced that Alec wasn’t going to tell Magnus. Alec had found out only a day before, and, chances were, he was freaking out about it more than Magnus was. Alec had a responsibility to every person in New York City — mundanes, Downworlders, and Shadowhunters alike — and Alec felt that responsibility more than anyone Jace had ever known. Every lost life was another weight on his shoulders that he couldn’t — and wouldn’t — shake off.

(Jace recently discovered that Alec had purposely memorized the name of every Downworlder that had died on the day that Jace set off the Soul Sword. When he’d asked why, Alec simply responded, “Because they deserve to be remembered.”)

He didn’t realize how long he’d been silent until Alec started snoring softly next to him. Jace blinked at his parabatai owlishly; Alec’s head was propped on his hand, his elbow pressing hard into his thigh. Jace huffed out a laugh. He considered taking a picture on his phone, but ultimately decided against it — Alec would kill him if he found out, and Jace felt no real need to immortalize his big brother’s first true heartbreak.

He wrapped an arm around Alec’s shoulders and shook him gently. “C’mon, let’s get you to bed,” he murmured.

Alec sighed sadly. “Don’t have one,” he slurred. “Leave me here.”

Jace’s heart broke. Alec hadn’t slept in his bed here in quite some time, and he had a sneaking suspicion that all of his stuff that had once been at Magnus’ would now be back in their original spots, taunting him and reminding him of what he’d lost.

He managed to pull Alec to an upright position and wrapped an arm around his waist, supporting his weight fully. He cursed himself for not thinking to activate his strength rune first — he felt like he was holding up a big, gangly, drunken tree. “‘Course you do,” Jace said, a bit breathlessly. “You’re sleeping with me tonight.” He shuffled Alec over to the door and propped him against the wall.

“Magnus says I snore.”

“Well, he’s not wrong.” Jace made quick work of the locking rune and swung the door open before guiding Alec through.

“He’s not wrong about anything,” Alec slurred confidently.

Jace rolled his eyes and mumbled, “I beg to differ.”

Alec didn’t respond, as he was too concentrated on making it down the stairs in one unbruised piece. Jace kept one step behind him, his hands gripping Alec’s shoulders to keep him from tipping forward.

They finally made it to Jace’s room after a half an hour and a pit stop to the kitchen for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He didn’t even bother turning on the lights when they entered, as Alec had already collapsed onto Jace’s bed, unconscious before his body even touched the mattress.

Jace sighed and got to work on untying Alec’s boots, pulling them off and tossing them in the direction of the closet. His jeans and jacket followed suit with minimal struggle and he draped a spare blanket over him, unwilling to waste his time and energy attempting to get Alec under the covers since he would inevitably kick off during the night anyway.

Jace quickly stripped and pulled on a pair of black gym shorts before joining Alec on the bed. He didn’t bother getting under the blankets, either; he liked the feeling of the cool air from the open window on his overheated skin.

He rolled to face his parabatai, and placed his hand on Alec’s hip where he knew their shared rune resided. “Love you, brother,” he whispered quietly and fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.


End file.
